by MìChaune
“Thank you.” Leshaun’s voice was barely audible as she left the table by the window and pulled the Lenovo touchscreen laptop out of the bag. Leshaun moved her manicured fingers across the screen and pulled up the hotel’s merchant account information.
“I’m good, how are you, you rude-ass bitch?” Gogo pouted, but she wasn’t ready for Leshaun to grab her by her throat and toss her on the bed like a crumpled piece of paper.
“Listen here.” Leshaun’s hand was still wrapped around Gogo’s throat as she climbed on top of her. “As much shit as I do for you, the word ‘bitch’ should never cross your lips in reference to me, understand?”
Gogo struggled to shake her head yes.
“I asked you to get my laptop so I can move shit around and get some of these bills paid.”
“I said I was sorry,” Gogo barely squeaked.
“No, you didn’t.” Leshaun let up. Truth was, she didn’t want to fuck up her money because Gogo had to blow off one of the rappers who would be performing in concert. Leshaun seen the dick pic he posted a few years ago and said the rapper had something to work with. Gogo needed to be in top shape and choking the shit out of her wasn’t going to get her there.
“Well, I meant to.” Gogo straightened her dress out as she got up. She gently rubbed her throat. “Is there anything else you want me to do?”
Leshaun knew Gogo was trying to stay in her good graces. “See if you can find Sheila Goldfield.”
Gogo smiled because she knew it was time to get that work. She slid Leshaun’s laptop her way and went to work. Within seconds, she pulled up five different LinkedIn accounts and turned the screen toward Leshaun.
The second listing matched the woman Leshaun remembered being in the IHOP. She touched the screen and pulled up her whole profile. Then she hit up the online phone directory and found the address for Sheila Goldfield in a matter of seconds.
“You want me to try to get a card duplicate?” Gogo offered as she looked over Leshaun’s shoulder. She was always amazed at how Leshaun’s mind worked as she memorized credit cards, personal information, and other shit that most people couldn’t process. Leshaun thought fast, and it seemed that her mind moved faster than her fingers as she moved from one Web page to another, incorporating information into a few programs she also had running simultaneously.
“No,” Leshaun scolded as Gogo pulled up a profile she hadn’t recognized. “I’m not using this card now. I have a few others I need to tap into first. Plus, this card and profile have to pass my screening tests.”
Leshaun was meticulous when it came to her credit card fraud activities. She always was very selective in the cards she used and the people whose identity she stole. Leshaun didn’t make it a regular habit to take card after card and use it for frivolous shit. She usually waited months, sometimes up to a year before she tapped a card in her database. She specialized in hitting growing businesses with extra expenses they were least likely to report. All companies wanted the tax advantages of writing off any- and everything possible and, in Leshaun’s view, purchasing items from different department stores and residential care supply vendors and merchants made it easier to hide what she was doing.
Of course, Gogo didn’t know that and, despite the fact that the two were sisters, Leshaun kept her secrets close to the chest. The fewer people who knew how she got her dirt in, the better.
“You need to get ready.” Leshaun looked at the time. “Are you hooking up with him before the show or after?”
“After,” Gogo replied as she looked at herself in the mirror. She loved the way her outfit looked and was thankful that Leshaun didn’t mess up her hair. With the tips of her fingers, Gogo put a few misplaced strands in place.
“Good.” Leshaun closed her laptop and, from the bed, watched Gogo prepare. “Remember to text me and 9ine the hotel information. We got to be extra careful because Zay just hit me up saying that he and 9ine were picking Kofi up from G-boro and they were going to be working there tonight. Chasity working in the Indigo not far from the US Cellular Center and I don’t have no one working the streets. For the time being, I’m off, so it will be me and Prince if I can get a hold of him to reach you in case something pops off.”
“Big sis, I’m good. Don’t worry about me. It’s not the first time I’ve hooked up with this rapper remember?”
Leshaun remembered, and she already thought about how Gogo was stuck on ol’ boy for three days after they fucked silly for the weekend. The pregnancy and the miscarriage Leshaun remembered, and she didn’t want her sister to make the same mistake she did when she got her first celebrity john. She knew that any misstep and Gogo’s face and description would be on Media Take Out and all the blogs.
“Be careful,” Leshaun pleaded like a mother letting her child go out on her own for the first time.
Gogo stared into Leshaun’s eyes. She knew that no matter how rough Leshaun got with disciplining her, Leshaun genuinely cared for her. That was more than they could say for their own mother.
Chapter Seventeen
“You done being mad at me?” Prince followed Leshaun out of the State Farm office as she power-walked to her car.
“I’m not mad.” Leshaun copped an attitude and unlocked the door to her silver 2012 Ford Taurus. She stared at Prince as he hopped into her car and slammed the door. Leshaun followed suit as she looked him up and down in his IHOP attire. I should’ve made his ass walk, she thought as she turned the key in the ignition. The South Asheville branch Leshaun went to was a good ten miles to the IHOP Prince worked at near the mall. “I’m just fed up with all the extra shit with this insurance. I thought everything was handled and I’m still having to come up with more money.”
“You didn’t expect them to cut you a check today, did you?” Prince asked as Leshaun focused on the rearview mirror and backed out of the space.
“No, I expected not to be dealing with all this bullshit,” Leshaun vented. “What else can I do? I’ve refunded the money, I’ve given them gift cards, I’m taking care of my legal workers and my whores. Can a bitch get a break or what?”
Prince sat in silence. He’d heard the same news that Leshaun heard. The claim wouldn’t be paid until the insurance company was convinced that the fire wasn’t intentionally started by Leshaun or any of her staff. Leshaun told the insurance claims representative and the police investigating the same story: she’d had a party, and Zay left the stove on by mistake. Zay told the same story about warming up some pasta and forgetting about it when Tiana distracted him with some sex. Tiana corroborated their story before Leshaun killed her. The police believed the fire was started by accident; why didn’t the insurance agency?
What Leshaun didn’t need was a delay in rebuilding her hotel. This was the middle of June and tourist season only heated up from here. Without the hotel, Leshaun was losing almost a quarter of a million dollars a month. Dom’s Paradice made money, but Leshaun kept that operation separate and didn’t comingle her Asheville and her Birmingham money. Leshaun had enough money saved to cover the repairs, but that’s what insurance was for. The premium was too high for the policy not to come through when she needed it the most.
Leshaun knew she had to come up with a plan and fast.
The repairs to the hotel were going to cost almost a quarter of a million dollars. The insurance adjusters needed a few more weeks to investigate how the fire got started and whether their policy would cover the repairs. Leshaun struggled to understand why she bought the policy if the insurance company wasn’t going to pay up.
Nevertheless, Leshaun had a business to run. She had ten whores who needed to be tricking and bringing in the dough so she could continue to keep up the lifestyle they were accustomed to.
With what little resources she had, she told one of her clients who was a member of the local Masonic lodge that she needed to rent the building for the night. Fortunately, the lodge was available, and they had everything they needed except access to the top floor. Leshaun benefited from havi
ng friends in high places.
The lodge wasn’t hard to get to, and she found that the basement key she’d been provided a few years ago still worked. She halfway expected one of the Masons to be waiting for her at the door to collect payment. She took out her key and let herself in the door. She called him back and let him know she was inside but got no answer.
At least I can conduct business in peace, she thought as she turned the light on and appreciated the empty building. She took out her phone again and texted all her crew and gave them the address and instructions on how to enter the building. As she looked ahead, she found an empty room partially opened. Inside she could see a square table with six chairs gathered around. She knew from having been to a party in the building before there was a storage room that had extra chairs. Fortunately for her, there was another room with a table and some chairs around it as well. She took all the chairs out of one room and put them in the room she wanted them to be used in. As she went to setting up the room the way she intended to use it, she heard a knock on the door.
Leshaun opened the door and was surprised to see Bradley on the other side. “Well, thank you for letting me use your building.” She looked at her john. There were things that she liked about the sixty-year-old man. Number one, he still had a handful of silver hair. He kept up his great shape, hitting the gym regularly. The evidence was hard to hide on his five foot eleven frame. His olive-colored skin still looked smooth, and the wrinkles on his face were at a minimum for a man of sixty. Hell, Bradley could say he was forty-five and she would believe it.
“Don’t mention it at all. I’m glad that you were able to use the space.” Bradley looked around at Leshaun’s decorations. “I can tell you are ready to throw down and get that hotel of yours back in order.”
Leshaun reached for her purse and pulled out a few Benjamins and Bradley held up his hand and shook his head. “Naw, it’s on me.”
“Take the money, Bradley,” Leshaun insisted as she pushed the money in his hand. “I don’t want you to be expecting any free rides.” Leshaun had to draw the boundary between friendship and business. Experience taught her that if she didn’t, her johns would be expecting all kinds of shit and free rides from her. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you coming through at the last minute for me; but I have to be consistent.” Leshaun closed the money in his hand.
Bradley kissed her forehead. “Okay, baby girl. I respect your business. You got full use of the building until three a.m.; then you got to clean up, pack up, and be out by four. And if you’re having that type of party, don’t film outside the building and don’t go upstairs. The whole bottom level is yours.”
Leshaun nodded her head. She had every intention of following the rules because she never knew if or when she would need Bradley again.
* * *
“So this is where we partying tonight?” Chasity walked in with Zay, 9ine, and Kofi not too far behind her.
Chasity couldn’t wait for the next assignment to come through. True to his word, Kofi never forced himself on her, and 9ine and Zay kept their distances too. She was making money with some of the johns Leshaun or Gogo sent her way. Even though she’d never had a pimp, she’d been tricking and looking up to Lil’ Kim since the fifth grade. At eleven, she was giving blowjobs for Blow Pops. By the time she was sixteen, she’d had three abortions that her mother knew about, been treated for NGU and gonorrhea, and lost count of all the men and women she’d slept with.
“Ma, you should’ve said something. I could’ve brought my DJ equipment.” Kofi looked around and sized up the lower level. “Ain’t nothing wrong with turning up in here.”
Leshaun smiled. She liked the fact that her whores used their brains for more than just giving brain. Kofi already had money on his mind so she knew within thirty minutes a plan would come into fruition on how she was getting her money back.
“Zay and I will get on Instagram, post some pics, and tell everyone we having a party here tonight in a few hours. Gogo and Chasity will go to the store and get some food.” Kofi took out the prepaid MasterCard he got from the girl he pleasured last night. “I checked the balance on this card. Five hundred and twenty-five dollars oughta cover it.”
“That will get us a few Gs tonight but, Ma, how much will it cost to get the building fixed?” 9ine asked.
“Almost a quarter of a mil,” Leshaun answered.
“Shit” and “fuck” were the common responses. A quarter of a million was a lot of money, and it would take almost a million tricks to see that kind of money.
“Leshaun, it looks like you and I are gonna have to take it back to the old days,” Kofi spoke up.
Leshaun knew what he meant. The fact that he tried to stick her up was how they met. Leshaun didn’t want to have to get violent, bring in guns, and start ski-masking. Making money on her back and using her lips were so much easier.
“A’ight.” Leshaun conceded that Kofi was right. For that kind of money, they were going to have to strong-arm some folks. Leshaun felt she was out of options. There was no guarantee that they’d get the insurance money. If she tapped her savings, it’d take months to replace the money, and she didn’t want to lose what little income she had from getting the interest in the CDs and other savings products she purchased.
Gogo already planted the seeds in her head, and now it was time to water the garden and make it grow. “Chasity, you got you a ruler with the set of school supplies I told you to carry for your schoolgirl act?”
Chasity looked at her and laughed. She knew where Leshaun was going. A mischievous grin took over her face as she couldn’t wait to participate.
“So I can see how I can work some of this plan, Kofi, 9ine, and Zay, I’m gonna need all three of you to drop your drawers so I can know who got the biggest dick.” Leshaun’s mind was spinning. She knew 9ine, Kofi, and Zay were all packing but she never thought she’d need to get an accurate account of who was packing what. Showing pictures was one thing, but for her plan to work she needed to be able to describe them in that way. In the back of her mind, if she could sell one or two of them as being ten inches or bigger, she could get them more opportunities and charge more money. Low-key, her three boys didn’t bring in as much money as the women, and Leshaun never forced them to because they did other work to make sure the other girls got paid. With Lysa and Janae still missing in action, she needed to see what artillery her army was working with.
“Ma,” 9ine yelled while Kofi and Zay wasted no time unzipping their pants, “I’m not showing you my dick.”
“Boy, I’m not even trying to go there with you on that.” Leshaun covered her eyes and turned around. “Chasity, get the measurements.”
With Leshaun facing away from him, 9ine swiftly and quickly dropped his drawers. Chasity pulled out a measuring tape and went to work measuring the men both flaccid and erect, giving all three of them blowjobs in the process.
“Zay got ’em beat by like half an inch,” Chasity announced as Gogo entered the building.
“Happy, cuzzo.” 9ine was pissed as he zipped up his pants. “And, Chasity, you finishing this shit when you come back.”
“Whatever.” Chasity licked her lips.
“What I miss?” Gogo handed Leshaun a knot full of bills.
“Zay won the dick-measuring contest,” Chasity bragged while she grabbed her arm. “We got to go to the store to grab a few things while Leshaun and the boys work out their feelings.” Chasity escorted Gogo back out while Leshaun pulled out her phone and texted her instructions.
“A’ight.” Zay got animated as he looked at his phone. “They want to know how much we charging.”
“Tell ’em twenty-five dollars for males, fifteen dollars for single ladies, and thirty-five dollars for couples. Open bar, and wear their sexiest outfit,” Leshaun instructed. “No tennis shoes, no boots, no flip-flops.”
“Ma, your mind working fast,” Kofi complimented her. “What you plan on having us do?”
“I plan on sending you boys
all over the country. Some things will be done together; some will be done solo. Whatever differences you have will need to be put to the side so we can get this paper. And, let it be known, whoever brings Lysa and Janae to me are in for a treat.”
Leshaun went to the supply room and picked up a broom and dustpan. She started sweeping, making sure the lodge was tight. “Kofi, you and 9ine go get your DJ equipment. I know it’s short notice, but I only got access to the space recently. Zay and I will help Chasity and Gogo set up once they get back.”
With Kofi and 9ine out the door, Leshaun continued to work while Zay entertained some people on the phones. “What you need me to do, Ma?” Zay asked.
“I need you to make sure you are ready to strip,” Leshaun ordered as she reached in her pocket and pulled out three twenties. “Go to one of the sex shops, and get an outfit that shows as much of what you are packing as possible. If you got your security outfit, bring it. I’ll be putting you on the dance floor tonight. Be ready.”
Leshaun kissed Zay on the cheek and watched as he went out the door. She looked around the room once, and she knew it was showtime.
Chapter Eighteen
The lodge was lit and, just like she pictured, full of men and women ready to get down and freaky. Dark fluorescent images of women licking each other between the legs broadcasted across the walls. The women had turned out, and the men were turned on.
Leshaun made sure that Kofi was set up in the area that led upstairs, making sure she honored Bradley’s request. The makeshift liquor bar was set up in another area that led to a hidden stairwell to the basement. With her end covered, she made sure that the party was jumping and that all her whores stayed busy.
The smell of sex invaded Leshaun’s nostrils, and the beat of the music was in sync with her soul. The women were dancing on a raised platform and having personal conversations with men of all different nationalities and sizes. She was looking for Zay but couldn’t find him.